The present invention relates to power management and, in particular, to power management in a processing environment.
In a processing environment, e.g., a single processor-based personal computer, there is the need to perform some type of power management. The latter can cover a range of methods and techniques. For example, power management can be concerned with heat dissipation, or heat management, with respect to the processor itself. As such, the use of a heat sink mounted on the processor—to keep the processor within a particular temperature range—is a form of power management. Similarly, monitoring the voltage level of a battery (battery conservation) in, e.g., a laptop computer, is yet another example of power management in a processing environment.
In terms of heat management, other more complex schemes exist. For example, temperature sensors can be placed on critical circuit elements, such as the processor, and fans can be mounted in an associated system enclosure. When the temperature sensors indicate a particular temperature has been reached, the fans turn on, increasing the air flow through the system enclosure for cooling down the processor. Alternatively, an alarm could be generated which causes the processing environment to begin a shutdown when the temperature sensors indicate that a predefined temperature level has been exceeded—i.e., that the system is overheating.